Photo/Somali Times
Somali government cannot account for up to $12 million it spent in the financial year 2019, a report by the country’s Auditor General has revealed, adding that contracts running into upwards of $5 million were awarded without the approval of the Auditor General.
According to the National Audit Office, there are 17 federal agencies, including the Office of the President, the Armed Forces, NISA, the courts, the judiciary and several unaccounted for ministries by 2019. ”The report details a wide range of malpractices including cash approvals without supporting documents, use of unofficial receipts to collect revenues and poor debt management by various Ministries, Departments and Agencies, In the report,
Auditor General Mohamed Ali reveals that 55% of all did not submit their financial statements for audit in accordance with the law. Most of the said offered no explanation for the failure.
“There were payment vouchers along with supporting documents that were not cancelled by stamping them with a dated to prevent the use of such documents in support of further payments, “the report said. ”The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) came up as the least transparent in its spending failing to account for $1.3 million, followed by the Somali National Army which could not justify a spending of $1.1 million.
Besides spending, the report says, also awarded contracts running into millions of dollars without registering the Office of the Auditor General. ”Top on the list where the two Houses of Parliament which jointly approved contracts worth $2.6 million without notifying the Auditor General.
The Upper House awarded contracts worth $1.7 million, while the Lower House made similar awards to the tune of $848,000. Imprudent fiscal management was also reported in revenue collection. The report notes that some ministries collected revenues using receipts not provided by the Accountant General as required by the law.
For example, the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs collected $1.7 million using its own receipts and not those provided by the Accountant General. ”The Ministry of Transport too collected $115,000 in a similar manner. ”The revenues from those used directly instead of first depositing at the Central Bank, the report adds.